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Some internet attacks against banks are merely inconvenient

It sounds odd to be writing that statement, and sounds self-serving, but it is in fact true that the recent “DDoS” attacks on bank web sites only make the site inaccessible for customers and employees, and do not mean the bank’s computers are being compromised.

The FDIC recently published a brief story that details what customers should know about criminals’ attempt to disrupt a bank’s internet service. DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks occur when criminals deploy thousands or more requests to view a bank’s web page at the same time. Such traffic significantly affects the web server’s ability to “serve up” the page for customers. And while you may find this very frustrating, take some comfort in knowing that all that traffic causes the server to be so bogged down with page requests that it can not reliably send any data. Peoples Bank does not keep any customer data on its web server, so there is no risk of all this activity serving as a distraction while a real theft is taking place.

If you are unable to gain access to The Real Peoples Bank web site, here are 3 things you can do:

Be patient. Our web provider has ways of detecting and mitigating the effects of these types of attacks. It may take some time to re-route traffic and get users to where they want to be.

Read more about DDoS attacks to bank web sites from the FDIC’s article. And talk to a friendly banker at Peoples Bank to learn more about how we strive to ensure your financial information is safe, secure and accessible to you whenever you need it.